the returning of neal
by julie.stahnke.5
Summary: after mary margaret and emma return from fairytale-land everything is calm. that is until neal shows up at emma's door.
1. Chapter 1

**A short once upon a time fic I wrote. I don't own the characters or the series. I know there are some stories out there, that are similar, but I wanted to write one too. Note: English is not my first language and I apologize for any mistakes. This is my first fanfic, so I am not experienced. Comments reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated. **

Emma:

It was actually quite a calm day. With the charmings all living under the same roof, Snow had demanded they did some family bonding. So here they were. Sitting at the table, eating lunch, and having a calm conversation, as a family. They'd been talking for about fifteen minutes, when a slight knock on the door interrupted them. "Excuse me, does Emma Swan live here?" a male voice asked. She should have recognized the voice, should have known who it was, but regrettably her mind was elsewhere, as she opened the door. She was opening Pandora's Box, unleashing all kinds of hell, and she didn't even realize until it was too late. At that moment, one word occupied her mind: _Shit_

Henry:

Emma opened the door, and in a nanosecond the calm atmosphere in the room turned very, very cold. "Who is it?" snow asked. Emma looked briefly at her, but didn't answer. Her expression gave her away though, and the question got changed to "what's wrong?" Charming instantly stood up, and walked closer to her. "Henry, please go to your room." Emma whispered, only just loud enough for him to hear. "Mom? What's going on?" he asked. He had never seen her mom look so scared or hurt. "Just go please" she pleaded keeping her focus on the person, standing in the doorway. Henry did as she said, though as he walked to his room, he caught a glimpse of a tan, brown-haired man, looking very apologetic. Why was she afraid of that man, and who was he? The questions spun around in his head as he closed the door behind him.

Emma:

Why had he come here? How did he know where she lived? What should she do? Emma didn't know the answer to any of these questions, and as her parents walked closer to her, trying to protect her all she could do was stare, and try not to show him that she was scared. All of the pain, suffering and heartbreak from eleven years ago washed over her, like a giant wave of sadness. "Neal" she muttered as she stared into his deep hazel eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, it really means a lot.**

Emma:

He didn't look that much different. His hair was a bit shorter, that was about it. She just stood there, didn't know what to do, as he opened his mouth and spoke her name. "Emma."

That was all it took for her feelings to flood over her. It felt like she was drowning in all the old pain, grief, sadness, anger, betrayal and loss. She felt weirdly numb, like she wasn't present anymore. She felt like she would start crying, as he ripped open the old wounds of her heart. She couldn't breathe, couldn't react in any way.

Then she stopped.

_To hell with this. _How dare he make her feel like this again? How dare he come here? She thought, as she turned the pain and sadness into anger. Pain was a fog, you couldn't escape it, but anger was clean and sharp, like the blade of a sword. She could use anger, could make it her weapon of choice.

What had felt like long minutes of feeling sad and angry, took less than a second in reality.

She opened her eyes, unaware that she had closed them in those few seconds. She clutched her hands into fists, rage burning in her eyes. Then she hit him. It was a good punch, directly in his face, and she watched him stumble backwards.

"Emma!" snow exclaimed, looking shocked by the sudden motion. Emma turned her head, just a bit so she could still keep an eye on the bastard, who was currently trying to get his nose to stop bleeding, and looked at her mother.

"He deserved it." She said, weirdly confused that her voice sounded so calm, and turned back to look at Neal. "He deserved much more than that."

She stepped closer until she was mere centimeters from his face. "Now I would like to know, what your sorry, no-good, lying ass is doing in my town."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "And don't you dare say 'love' or your nose won't be the only thing that's broken."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here it is! The newest chapter! Sorry you had to wait that long, but I went on a school trip to France, and you weren't allowed to bring your computer. Anyway I wanted to make this chapter longer, as you desired, but that took some extra time. Thank you very much for all the reviews and comments it really means a lot. I was really nervous about publishing my first fanfiction, due to fear of haters, but you have welcomed me very well, and I am glad I did it. And without further ado:**

Chapter 3

Neal:

God she was beautiful. His memory had in no way done her justice. Even now, as she stood there, anger burning in her eyes, she was the most beautiful sight he would ever see. Her glasses were gone, switched with contacts he presumed, and her aging had made her more beautiful, rather than made her uglier. She looked more mature, wiser and stronger, than when he left.

Emma crossed her arms and shifted her weight. "Well?" she said, eyebrows raised questioningly. "Tick, tock" her eyes glaring at him almost like she dared him to talk.

"I didn't want to leave you Emma!" he said quickly, before she could change her mind about letting him explain. "I didn't, but august explained your destiny to me, and I couldn't be selfish, and ruin your only chance of getting to know your parents!" "I did it for your own good!"

"You left me, for eleven months in prison, with no money, and a positive pregnancy test, for my own good?" she yelled.

A positive pregnancy test? What was she talking about?

Emma:

She didn't realize she had slipped up, her anger fogging her mind. She was so focused on Neal, she didn't hear her parents' faint gasps as they realized what she was talking about. She was just so _mad_!

"What do you mean a positive pregnancy test?" he asked, looking at her like she'd just grown three heads.

"Oh you don't know the system?" she asked. "It's quite simple actually, positive means pregnant and negative means not pregnant." "Even a moron could figure it out, but then again you never were the sharpest knife." She teased, sounding dangerously calm. It was the calmness before a big storm, the kind that caused lots of shipwrecks.

Before Neal could even say anything, the storm came.

"Do you know what sucks?" she asked. "What sucks is being left by the only person you ever loved and trusted" "What sucks is going to prison for a crime he committed, because you helped him through a tough time." "What sucks is waiting every day, for some sort of message from the douchebag, some sort of explanation as to why he left you. Finding out you are pregnant, in prison, with the douchebags kid and not being able to keep the kid, because you want him to have a better life than you did, and not having the money to give him that life."

She walked closer and closer to him, voice louder and louder with every step. She stopped when she was inches away from his face and looked him dead in the eye.

She wanted him to _feel_ her anger, to _feel_ her pain. Her voice was calm again, as she uttered one last heartbreaking sentence.

"what sucks is being locked in, with crooks, murderers, thieves, other criminals and people who were set up, people who were going to spend most of their lives in that cell, and seeing the pity in their eyes, knowing that they feel bad for _you_!" the last word came out as a hiss, and then she turned away, and ran out the door.


	4. Chapter 4 (filler)

**AU: im so sorry I didn't update sooner, but I've been really busy and suffering from a bad case of writersblock. Anyway, I know you want longer chapters, and I wanna give them to you, but I figured it was better to post this as a filler chapter and at least post something. Hoper you like it. **

**BTW please tell me if anyone is OOC so I can fix it.**

Chapter 4

Neal

His head was still spinning as she ran out the door, though he didn't know if it was because of the broken nose, or the news she'd just given him. Probably a little bit of both.

He had a kid. He'd had a kid for a little over eleven years! She was pregnant when he left her. She had given birth in _prison_ because of him. The guilt he had felt earlier was now doubling in size. Not only had he left her, but he had left his _son_. He wasn't any better than his dad.

Before he could run after her, a hand shot up and slammed the door in front of him. He had unconsciously gone into the apartment when she had spoken and now somebody was blocking his chance of going after her.

He turned around to see who had closed the door, and found himself face to face, with a very angry man.

**Thanks for reading, please review**


End file.
